Porsche - History repeating

Some of the most iconic photographs of Porsche cars have been of a 356 up a snowy Alp, with skis strapped to the roof. Sixty years on, the 911 Turbo S wanted some of the limelight.
There is something so very right about the image of a Porsche with skis on the roof. Even in the earliest years of the company, people strapped their wooden skis to their 356 or 911 and headed up into the Alps. Cameras captured these moments for posterity – pictures that have almost come to symbolise the jet-set years of the 1950s and ‘60s.

It was this that was at the forefront of fasion photographer Marcus Hoffmann’s mind when he planned a ski-wear shoot in the Swiss Alps. An image from the Porsche Museum’s archive that had appeared on the Porsche Drivetribe feed had caught his eye, and he wanted to see if he could re-capture its glamour today with a 911 Turbo S.

The trip down to Switzerland started somewhat less glamorously in the reality of a Stuttgart rush hour, but the 911 was comfortably up to the task. The traffic crawled along and the Turbo S crawled along with it, no less tractable nor trickier to place than the family hatchbacks surrounding it. Heated seats and steering wheel kept its occupants warm. Apple CarPlay kept them entertained. And then the traffic cleared. The Turbo S effortlessly transformed itself into a distance-devouring crosser of countries. Even though it was shod in speed-limited winter tyres, it made safe and rapid progress down ever-quieter autobahns.